Dragon Skin
by tortoise girl
Summary: The war is over, and the Golden Trio, along with many other students are back at Hogwarts. As the year begins, Hermione makes new friends, could friendship become something more? But then there's also her loving boyfriend. Who'll win her heart, in the end
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: None of the character's belong to me, they all belong to J.K Rowling. I'm just using them as dolls, which I then squeeze together and make kissing noises. :)  
_

_By the way there are multiple pairings: RW/HG, CW/HG, DM/HG, HP/GW, BZ/GW_

_Please R&R. This is my first fanfic, and thoughts on my story are more than welcome!_

**Chapter 1**

The war was finally over, and everything was better than any of them could imagine. It was the calm breeze after the storm. Remembering how the past few years had been so hectic, Hermione decided to keep a diary to record all her thoughts. She carried her new diary in her hand as she walked to the Hogwarts Express.

"Oye! Mione!" Someone called from behind. She knew that voice, it was the voice that had melted her heart for many years. She spun around to see Ron jogging over to her. She quickly tucked her diary into the an opening in the bag, that hung off her shoulder, and wrapped her arms around Ron once he was close enough.

"I missed you", she simply said. She'd been away at Australia, restoring her parents memories, for the last month and a half. She pressed her head into his chest, as he stroked her wild hair. He placed kisses on her forehead and whispering loving words into her hair. Hermione was the only one who could hear them, and she melted in his arms. She remembered the last time, he did this. It was at the airport, before she left for Australia to get her parents. He insisted that he should come with her, and help her find them. But she was sure that she'd have to do this alone. She also remembered the last night, they just sat on the couch for the whole night, with their arms wrapped around each other, never wanting to let go. So many moments they'd shared. It was as if nothing could ever break them, nothing and no one.

"C'mon love birds, we've got to get on", Harry smiled at Hermione and gave her a quick hug, before she was taken back by Ron. _Maybe Harry can break us apart, physically, but not for long,_ she thought. Harry chuckled at the sight of the two teenagers, who seemed to be stuck to each other. "We don't want to miss our last year again". They had to return to Hogwarts for their 7th year to take their NEWTs. Everyone knew that Harry didn't care much about going back to school, but he was dyeing to see Ginny again, to try to fix their relationship.

"Harry, Ginny is in the train already. She got out of the house early, to leave with Luna", Ron said plainly, knowing exactly what his best friend actually wanted. Both Ron and Hermione smiled as they watched their best friend walk away.

"Let's go and get a compartment", Hermione tugged her boyfriend's arm, and dragged Ron to the train.

_Dear Diary,_

_Here I am again! Scribbling on paper has always been a joy. I'm on the Hogwarts Express now, and Ron's head is sleeping on my lap. Oh, he looks so cute when he sleeps. I love it how he breathes so softly, and how his chest rises slowly and then falls back down. He's so... perfect! Okay, well maybe he isn't perfect, but he's perfect for me. I missed him so much. I'm glad that we're together now. I miss having his arms around me. I miss how he smiles when he sees me, he once told me that he had a special smile, which was reserved just for me. AWWWW!! Isn't that sweet?_

_Well anyway, enough with obsessing about my boyfriend. I can't believe that I got the Head Girl position! I'm so excited! This year is going to be amazing! Even though there aren't going to be so many people from our year, with us in school. Most of them already graduated. But thankfully, some of them are even coming back, just so that they can finish the year. Oh my God! I'm going to have classes with Ginny! Well, I probably will, considering the fact that both of us are 7th years now. _

_Oops! Ron's waking up now._

_I'll write more later,_

_Hermione_

Ron woke up groggily, but the second he saw whose lap his head was resting on, he couldn't help but smile. _Awww, that's the smile reserved for me!_ Hermione's heart leapt.

"Mione? What's that?" Ron saw the diary that she was about to shove into her bag.

"Oh, it's just a diary. I thought it would be fun to record my thoughts, and then read them in the future. It would be like a time capsule, or something", Her voice rose with excitement, "It would be like I'm looking into the past, and it would be as if the past would last forever, in the future", Ron just grinned. _That's the Hermione I love_, he thought, _she gets excited by everything she does_.

"Cool! You know I heard that there's a new type of notebook, which is similar to a Pensieve, and what you do is you just touch the quill to its paper. The quill transfers all your thoughts onto the paper as words, which you can then read, like a diary. But you can also revisit that moment, like you do with a pensieve" Hermione was amazed at how he suddenly knew so much, but still loved how he listened to her and replied thoughtfully. "You know I do listen to what you say right?" He said, reading her thoughts.

"Yes, and I love that you do" She gave him a kiss on his cheek. "But where did you hear about this new notebook?"

"Well, I actually saw it in Flourish and Blotts" Hermione looked at him, with a weird look on her face. "I was there to buy my school books, until I saw this notebook. And... well..." He dragged and stuttered, "Well, I got one for you", he took out a dragon-skin covered book and handed it to Hermione.

"Ron", that's all she could say.

"I thought that you may want to remember your last year in Hogwarts, and I was hoping that I could help you fill it with great memories" He said sweetly. Hermione threw her arms around his neck, causing him to fall back on the seat with her on top of him. This was the perfect moment for a perfect kiss. They'd never actually kissed, since that one kiss before the war started. Hermione thought that a kiss should be special, and not something that's thrown around with ease. Just like the word love. Ron understood this, and they decided to reserve their lips for a 'special' moment. Ron just kissed her forehead. Hermione tilted her head up, from where it lay on his chest, to look at his face. His cute lightly freckled face, his electric blue eyes, that were partly covered by his long red hair. _I want to snog him right now_, she thought. Just as they started closing in, the compartment door open.

"Hermione, aren't you supposed to go to the Head compartment?" Harry's head popped in. Seeing an empty seat, he turned his head to the other side of the compartment, and saw Hermione laying on Ron. "S-s-s-sorry", he stuttered, popped his head back out and shut the door behind him. They sprung apart immediately.

"Mione, did you get the Head Girl position?" He said happily, she nodded. "Why didn't you tell me? We could have done something during the holidays. I'd have gotten you something", he planned.

"I was so busy during the holidays, with my parents. And it slipped my mind, when you woke up", she explained. "And you don't have to get me anything, anyway". She rubbed his arm reassuringly.

"You'd better get going, before Professor McGonagall gets angry, you wouldn't want to get detention from her before the school year actually starts, that'll just take away our precious snuggling time", he said half-jokingly. She gave her a quick peck on his cheek, grabbed her bags and headed to the Head compartment.

"Sorry, Hermione. I didn't know that you changed your mind about the whole kissing thing", Harry said as she past him. He was leaning against the train wall, waiting for her.

"I didn't change my mind", she said. _How does he know about the kissing thing, anyway? Ron must have told him_, she figured. "Nothing happened", she firmly pressed the words, hoping that they'd sink into his head.

She waved at him, hoping that he wouldn't ask anymore questions, and walked away. She could hear a compartment door opening and closng behind her, she knew that Harry was going to go and interrogate Ron about what he'd just seen. She tried to push the thought out of her head, and started to wonder who the Head Boy was. _Probably Malfoy_, she figured it out immediately.

Thoughts kept filtering through her head, about the Head Boy, Ron, Harry and Ginny. _Are they together yet?_ She wondered. She was too busy with her thoughts to see where she was going, and she bumped into a hard figure. She stumbled forward and then a bit back, but two strong arms came to her resue and gripped onto her shoulder to make sure that she didn't fall.

"Are you okay?" A kind voice asked her. She followed the hands on her shoulder, up its arms, then to its neck, and she slowly tilted her head up to see who the voice belonged to. And she found a man towering over her petite body. The harsh light from the train, made her squint. But she could still see his beautiful blue eyes, and messy auburn hair.

"Charlie?" She observed. She thought that Charlie was still in Romania, with the dragons. _He can't be here, can he?_ She wondered. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I hope that we've established that you're okay", he flashed her an adorable smile, but then got to her actual question. "Well, I was here to talk to Professor McGonagall, or Headmistress McGonagall. Hagrid was thinking about teaching 7th years about dragons, later in the year. So I came over to talk to her about it and the safety issues".

"Wow, we're learning about dragons...", Hermione and Charlie had never been very close, they'd barely talked to each other before. So she wasn't sure what else to say. She just displayed the bags in her hand, and pointed down the train corridor. "I'd better get going. Need to get to the Head's compartment".

"You're Head Girl! I knew you'd make it! Congratulations!" He stuck out his hand, which she took. He posed a serious face and shook her hand vigorously. Hermione laughed because he was clearly making fun of all the old people who believe that a 'congratulations' is always followed by a hand shake. "I'm sorry to say this but I'm kind of heading that direction too, and obviously you are uncomfortable with my presence, so I'll wait for you to go and I'll follow in a few minutes", he put it so plainly.

"No, Charlie. It's not that", she tried to explain. "It's just that I haven't talked to you much, before. And for the first time, I find myself with nothing to say, because I barely know you", she confessed, as they started walking.

"Well, I'd ask you what you want to know, right now, but we're kind of out time", he pointed to the door of the Head's compartment. "But maybe we can talk some other time", she smiled.

"I'd like that", he gave her a smile, and opened the door to the compartment for her. She gave him a goodbye wave and walked into the compartment.

"Happy are we, Granger?" Hermione spun around to see exactly who she expected, Draco Malfoy.

"Malfoy, I knew you'd be the Head Boy!" She applauded her intuition.

"Oh Granger, we all know that you're a bloody know-it-all. You don't need to go bloody crazy about it" He saw Hermione still smiling. _Does she ever stop smiling?_ He groaned. "What are you so bloody happy about, anyway?" He paused for a moment. "Not that I really care, I... was just... ummmm... wondering". _Why did I have to sound like such a bloody idiot?_ He wondered.

"Well, Malfoy, I've just been having a good day. And nothing can ruin it. Not even you", she didn't even question his stuttering, she barely heard it. She dumped her bags, sat down and began scribbling in her diary. Draco didn't even bother asking her anymore questions, but once in a while, he'd steal a glance at Hermione, with a lot on his mind.

_Dear Diary,_

_I am now sitting in the Head's compartment. It's much more comfortable here. It's like first class on and normal train. There's a huge bathroom right outside, reserved just for us. But I have no idea what such a big bathroom is used for, especially on a train. Hmmmm... I still have no idea. Well anyway, Malfoy has stopped asking me questions about why I'm so happy. But I seriously don't get why he cares so much. I know he said that he doesn't care, but if he didn't then why would he have asked? _

_And I think I have a good reason to be happy. C'mon, there's Ron. Voldermort is gone! I'm going back to Hogwarts. Aren't those very obvious reasons for me to be happy. And then there's Charlie. I have a feeling that we'll become friends, like actual friends. Not just two people who know each other and talk politely. I wonder how long he's going to stay here. I can't wait to talk to him! He's just so... fascinating! Though I don't know much about him, I've always been interested, since the day Ron told me that he was a dragon keeper in Romania. And not to mention that he's amazingly hottttttt! I know I shouldn't be saying, or writing, these things. But he just is, it's like a fact that everyone who sees him would know. And just because I think that he's attractive doesn't mean that I'm attracted to him. I'm just acknowledging his good looks. He has such gorgeous eyes. They're so blue! I know that sounds really stupid, but they're different from Ron's. Charlie's eyes seem so electric. It makes him seem unhuman, and God-like. And Ron's are dark, and... well... not electric. And Charlie cut his hair a bit (since the last time I saw him), it's still pretty long, and messy, but it looks great. And unlike the rest of the Weasley family, he has brownish-red hair. And when I looked up at him, with the light glaring behind him (that made me squint), his hair had a goldish tint to it. Making him look even MORE gorgeous! And those strong arms! Wow! He has to be really strong, since he's a dragon keeper, and all. And I've got to say, he has the most adorable smile! It's really cute and lop-sided. And whenever he smiles, it seems so genuine. Oh my God! I just blabbed on about Charlie for... well a really long time. So, moving on..._

_Oh, I can't wait to see Ron again. I have a feeling that this year is going to be great! Hey, I have a new diary now... Hmmmm... maybe I should write in that instead. _

_I'm sorry Diary, but I'm going to start writing in the other diary from now on. Sorry. Hey, why is Malfoy looking at me? He keeps looking at me when he thinks I don't see it. What's he up to? I tried to be civil with him before, because we're going to be working together a lot now. But he doesn't seem to have changed._

_Well... goodbye forever,_

_Hermione_

Hermione put her old diary away, and took out the new one that Ron gave her. It was beautiful. The dragon skin was blue-green. It reminded her of peacocks. She opened the cover to see _The Diary of Hermione Granger_ written on the first page in an elegant hand.

"Did Weasel give you that diary?" Draco asked her, with a strange voice.

"Yeah, he did. How did you know?" He just pointed to some writing on the inner cover. _To Mione, Many great memories ahead. With love,Ron,_ was written in Ron's scratchy handwriting. Hermione couldn't help but smile, as her hand roamed over the writing. She took out a quill, since she had been writing with a pen in her old diary, and she took out some ink. Instead of writing she decided to add the pages of her old diary into the new one too. She took out her wand and muttered, "Instigare", and the pages were immediately stuck into her new diary. _And very neatly_, she thought.

"So are you and Weasel a... an... item... now?" Draco asked, as he lounged on his seat, trying to look casual. Hermione looked up from her diary, and gave him and unreadable look. _Why is she always so hard to understand?_ He groaned. _Maybe it comes with being smart..._ He thought.

"Malfoy, are you feeling okay?" She saw the frustrated look on Draco's face. _Great! Since when did I make my thoughts so obvious?_ He kept mentally kicking himself, _stop thinking! She'll read all your thoughts. Bloody witch._

"Yeah, I'm fine", his brain kept telling him, _do it now!_ "Hermione", her eyes shot straight up to his. "I want to say that I'm sorry".

"Wha-", Draco stopped her with a signal of his hand.

"Look, I've been a bloody git over the last 7 years. I treated you badly, and called you horrible names. And I was a horrible person. I was just following what my father had taught me", Hermione tried to cut in, but he stopped her again.

"My father", he continued, "always told me that blood shows the greatness of the witch or wizard. Purebloods are the highest beings in the magical society, because they're the best breed, and the purest. That's what he'd always tell me. And I followed it blindly, because I didn't know any better. I couldn't think for myself, I was so caught up in pleasing my father, that I decided to trust his word and follow what he told me. But now, I guess since my father is gone, I've been able to think for myself. And I realized that blood has nothing to do with how good a witch or wizard you are. You're a muggleborn and you still get the best grades. You know more than I could ever know. So I'd just like to say sorry for being so mean to you. I called you horrible things and kept trying to bring you down. I won't lie and say that it hurt me when I said those things, because it didn't. But now, knowing that I did those horrible things, it does hurt me. And I know that it'll be hard to believe me, but I really want us to be friends. I'll do anything to make you see that I'm a different person now. So will you give me a chance?" He asked. He was out of breath, because he tried to get it all out as fast as possible.

"Draco", it felt weird coming out of her mouth, "I really want to believe you and trust you", she took his hand.

"But you won't", Draco finished her sentence. He almost choked on the words, and tried to take his hand away from hers.

"No, I will", she held on to his hand. "C'mon everyone deserves a second chance, and I think that you deserve one too". She leaned over and gave him a hug. She felt him relax under her hug, and sigh. For the rest of the ride she and Draco talked endlessly. Nearing the end of the ride, she excused herself and began to write in her diary. The second her quill touched the paper, words immediately appeared, conveying all her thoughts. She was amazed at how she had so many thoughts, and how they quickly arranged themselves onto the piece of paper. She just looked at the final part of her first entry:

_I guess I was right, things are going to be great this year. "Good beginning, good end", my mom always says. And it had started well. Now I've got Ron, my great, loving, caring (too many words to describe his greatness) boyfriend. And Draco and I have finally solved our problems and we can see something bright there, like a great friendship. And well, Charlie... I know that we'll become really good friends too. But something about him makes him different from all the other 'new friends' I've made. It's as if Charlie was always there, and I knew him, but I didn't know him. I don't know, actually. Why do I keep thinking about him? If someone was reading this they'd think I'm in love with him. Well, I'd just like to tell you, reader, that I'm not in love with him and just because I happen to be thinking about him a lot, doesn't mean that I fancy him. I'm just fascinated by him. This isn't like some crazy love story, where I realize that I'm in love with my boyfriends older brother! It ISN'T! Anyway, I'm in love with Ron. What? I LOVE Ron? Love? That's a very strong word..._

She looked at the abrupt ending to her entry, and saw how utterly confused her mind was. _Wow, Ron can never read this_, she thought. She saw all the writing about everything that had happened today, all her observations of Charlie and Draco. _Ron would go bonkers, if he did read this_, she figured. But another thought kept passing through her mind as she read all the confused thoughts, _I must be bloody mental_...

"You know, they say that words have a way of distorting what you really think and feel", Draco commented, when he looked at Hermione's face. "When you write in a diary, you think too much, and put down what you want to write, which may not be exactly what you're thinking. While this diary you have here, I believe is a Rememorari Diarium", he said in a fluent accent. "And it seeps into your brain and heart, and extracts what you truely think and feel", he finished. And Hermione didn't know what else to say.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: These characters all belong to J.K Rowling, not me. But the plot is all mine_

_Please Read and Review, it would really help._

**Chapter 2**

The train eventually stopped. Hermione and Draco were already in their Hogwarts robes, with their Head Girl and Boy badges pinned on their chest. They laughed as they exited the train to help the first years find Hagrid. All the other prefects, who both Hermione and Draco had met an hour earlier, helped all the students out of the train. Once all the first years were under the safe keeping of Hagrid, Hermione went off towards the carriages, tugging Draco behind her.

"C'mon Draco, you _have_ to admit, that it's great being back here", she tried to convince Draco. He, of course, wasn't to happy about the idea. He was sure that everyone hated him, apart from the Slytherins. _Actually_, he thought,_ now that I think of it, they probably hate me too, since I didn't follow Voldermort's orders._ And the rest of the school probably hated him too, he had figured.

"They all-", but he was cut off by Hermione.

"-Don't hate you", she finished. She knew she could help him change everyone's opinion on him. _He's a really great guy_, she realized. "C'mon, let's get to the carriages. You can hang out with us". Draco knew who she meant by 'us', The Golden Trio: The people who hated him the most. He just groaned, as she pushed him forward, by pressing on his back.

"Ron!" Hermione jumped when she say her boyfriend and ran to him, latching her arms around his neck and giving him a kiss on the cheek. She realized that Ron wasn't responding to the hug. She looked up at him, and noticed that he seemed sad, and a bit angry. "What's wrong?" She asked in a whisper. He wasn't looking at her, but was just looking into the trees surrounding them. She held his face in her hands, and made him look into her eyes, as she repeated the question.

"Care to explain to me why Lavender has been running around the train talking about how you're cheating on me with Ferret, here?" He said cooly, trying to control his sorrow.

"Wha-", Hermione was caught off guard. She thought that Ron was sad about something else, like a post her got on the train. She couldn't believe that Ron actually thought that she was cheating on him. _Doesn't he know how much I care about him?_ She also reminded herself to scream at Lavender, next time she saw her. Ron noticed that she was silent for some time, but he didn't know what was running through her mind.

"So I guess Lavender was right", Ron stalked off to the arriving carriage. Harry gave her a look saying 'sorry' as he followed Ron. Hermione knew that Harry was just going to try to cool him down. Hermione just stood there, staring at them walk away. Before Harry got onto the carriage he looked at Hermione, his face was asking her whether the rumors Lavender were spreading were true or not. Hermione just shook her head and waved at Harry, as his smiling figure disappeared into the carriage. Hermione was froze, like a statue, until she heard a carriage coming up from behind her and Draco had to grab her arm to pull her out of the way. He opened the carriage door for her, as she stepped in, and followed behind her.

As they sat in the carriage, Draco wrapped his arm around Hermione's shoulder, trying to comfort her. Draco decided to break the silence.

"Look, Weasel is just being a git", Hermione punched Draco's arms lightly

"He's my friend, and my boyfriend. Well, we haven't really broken up yet", then realization struck her, "What if he breaks up with me?" She was worried. She didn't want it to end, she really cared about him, she might even love him. Draco squeezed her shoulder, to make her feel better, and it did.

"Look, here's the deal, Weasley," he stopped to see whether Hermione approved. She nodded along, because he atleast wasn't giving him a horrible nickname, "he isn't used to getting amazing things. And now that he has you, he probably worried that you're too good for him. He probably feels really insecure about your relationship, because he feels like you're better than him and that you'll find a bloke who is better than him too. He knows that you care about him, and he _does_ trust you. But he probably thinks that you caring and his trust, isn't enough to hold your relationship together. You just have to show him that you're not leaving him". He stopped and looked down at Hermione, who was looking straight up at him in wonder.

"Draco? How do you know all this?" She almost laughed, trying to figure out how firstly, he'd read her like a book. And secondly, how he could see Ron's point of view so easily. _Bingo!_ Draco thought to himself,_ I figured her out, and then of course Weasley was easy to read._

"Well, I might not be friends with Weasley, but I understand him pretty well, he's like a lot of guys I know, actually", he said with pure honesty.

The carriage stopped at the front door to Hogwarts. Hermione took in the beautiful castle that stood before her, and even though she'd already had a small fight with Ron, she still felt great. She missed him, but she was glad that she had a friend like Draco around. She and Draco waited outside the Great Hall for Headmistress McGonagall's call to enter. Finally, they heard a booming from the the other side of the grande doors, "Now I present to you our Head Boy and Head Girl, Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger". On cue the doors swung open and the pair walked into the Great Hall together, as students began to applaud. They walked up to the Headmistress and stood on either side of her, as she reintroduced them to the school, receiving another thunderous applause, and then allowed them to be seated. Hermione went and sat next to Ron, remembering what Draco had said. _You just have to show him that you're not leaving him_, she remembered. As the announcements were being made, she decided to make her first move, she was going to fix this up. She placed his hand on Ron's, feeling him stiffen and look down at her hand on his, and then at her face. She bent over casually, and whispered in his ear, that they needed to talk after she'd seen the Head Dorms with the Headmistress. He just nodded in return.

The Feast wasn't such an enjoyable affair for the Golden Trio, everyone had heard the rumors, and knew what was going on between the three. They didn't bother talking about it much, in fact, they didn't talk at all. Unless they were whispering to the people sitting beside them. Hermione wondered whether everyone believed the rumors, and she also wondered how Lavender came up with them. _Lavender has never been a reliable source for information, but she didn't go around randomly coming up with rumors, something must have led her to think that I was cheating_, Hermione thought. She knew she'd figure it out, she always did. She picked at her food, not feeling very hungry, she noticed that Ron, who was always hungry, did the same. Her eyes wandered the Great Hall, until it fell onto a certain blonde. Draco looked up and waved. She just smiled back, which of course caught Ron's attention. Draco wanted her to laugh, _she seems too depressed_, he thought. He started to make one strange face, after another, until Hermione let out a small laugh. Ron followed her eyes, to see who she was looking at, and who was making her laugh, all of a sudden. He could feel a tear rolling down his face, he didn't cry much. Everyone knew that Ron didn't cry much, so he quickly wiped it away. _She's probably going to break up with me after the Feast_, he thought. Hermione saw his face droop even further than before, and placed her hand on his, under the table. Before she and Draco were told to follow the Headmistress, Hermione gave Ron a small hug and a peck on the cheek.

She followed McGonagall, down the Hogwarts corridors with Draco at her side. They were given the password, and taken into the common room. Hermione wasn't very interested in what the Headmistress had to say, who went on about rules, head meetings, curfew, and other stuff that Hermione didn't hear, since she was too busy looking around her new home, for the year. The common room was adorned with all the House colors. Shelves of books filled one whole wall. There was a little kitchen area. And in the center of the large room was a set of comfortable couches. To get to their bedrooms they had to go up a set of stairs, which then were divided into two sets, going in opposite directions. At the top of both stairs was a wooden door. Hermione's had 'Head Girl' engraved on hers, which Draco had 'Head Boy' on his. Once their new Headmistress was gone, Hermione hurried to the Gryffindor common room, without even looking at her room.

"Braveria", Hermione said to the Fat Lady in the portrait. As soon as the door swung open she leapt up the stairs into the common room, to see Ron sitting on the couch, his head hanging low, with both Harry and Ginny on both of his sides. "Can I talk to you Ron?" She asked.

"Let's go up to my dorm", he said as he lead her up some stairs to where he and some other boys were going to sleep. "Look, Hermione," he decided to just end it, before he started to cry again, "I understand that you probably want to be with Malfoy now, so it's okay if you want to break up with me now". His words were so weak, it was as if the wall behind him was the only thing holding him up. "I want you to be happy", she admired how much Ron cared about her. _He'd let me go, to be with another man, so that I'd be happy_, she mentally gushed.

"Ron", she put her hand on his cheek and rubbed it, gently, wiping off some of the tears that were falling down. "Ron, nothing's going on between me and Draco, nothing was _ever_ going on between us. The rumors were all lies", she said softly.

"Really?" Hermione nodded. "But then how come Lavender saw you hugging him and why are you calling him Draco? Since when were you two so chummy?"

"On the train, he apologized to me for everything. He wants a second chance, so I decided to give it to him", Hermione knew what Ron's reaction would be, but she stopped him. "Ron, he's really a good person. C'mon he joined our side, against Voldermort. We couldn't have won the war without him. He just needs people to be there for him. He wants to prove to everyone, that he has changed. So please just give him a chance". Ron gave her a nod. And pulled her into a hug.

"I'll try", he promised. "If something like this happens again, can you please just tell me?"

"I tried to tell you, but I just couldn't believe that you didn't trust me, and I was so confused, that I couldn't say anything. And then you just jumped to conclusions", Hermione said, while absent-mindedly she stroked his back. When she noticed what she was doing, she realized that Ron was doing that same.

"I'm sorry", Hermione hoped that Ron would open up and tell her what was wrong. Ever since they started going out, he'd always been a bit worried. _Maybe Draco was right_, she thought,_ maybe Ron is worried that I may find someone else_.

"Ron, you know that I'm not just going to walk away from you, and find someone else, right?" She decided to comfort his fears, well what she _thought_ he feared. She saw him relax, and a large grin appeared on his face.

"Really?" He asked happily. "I've been a bit worried lately", he admitted. _Bingo!_ Hermione thought.

"About what?" Asking as if she had no idea.

"You know what", he nudged her playfully, but she kept pretending to be oblivious of what he was saying. "What you just said. I've been worried that you're going to find someone better than me. Someone who's smarter, kinder, doesn't swear as much, and doesn't get into fights with you so easily. Because that what's missing in me", he was being completely honest. "You're smart, kind, and beautiful", Hermione blushed at his comments. "You're just so perfect, that I know that you're going to leave sooner or later. Leaving me back here. And you're going to meet someone else, and have kids, and grow old together", he seemed to be scared.

"Don't worry Ron, I'm not leaving. I'm right here".

"From now on, I'm going to wait for you to explain", Ron commented. "If something happens", _I hope nothing happens_, Hermione thought, "then we'll always hear each other out. No jumping to conclusions". Hermione loved how he tried to fix their problems.

When she got back to her common room, that night, she touched her quill to her diary, curious of what had been written, she read a part of the entry...

_I love so many things about Ron, but I can never figure out whether I'm _in _love with him or not. I've always heard that love is this grande emotion that makes your stomach ache because it feels like thousands of butterflies are fluttering in your stomach. It's when you shiver at every touch you get because it feels as if your heart is going to leap out of your chest everytime he's near. I hear so much about love, but I still don't get it. I've even checked the dictionary. A lot of them actually. But for once, it appears as if a book doesn't have all the answers. It's always really rough, and is never precise! it normally says:_

A deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone. _Or,_ an intense feeling of deep affection

_And that just isn't precise enough!! Sure me and Ron have a deep romantic attachment, definately not sexual (we haven't even kissed yet!), but if I am in love then why am I so confused._

"Draco...?", Hermione wasn't sure whether she should ask him. _What do you think love is?_ She imagined finishing her question, to Draco. She couldn't get the words out. Draco just looked up at her, his face had risen from the book he was reading. And his face was softened by the light coming from the fireplace, infront of his couch. His blonde hair was now messy, no longer gelled, and just the proper length for a guy, Hermione realized. She kept studying his face, not realizing that he was waiting for her to finish her question._ He's pretty good-looking, now that I think of it_, Hermione thought. _His lips are so perfect, so-_

"Hermione?" He finally asked, and Hermione's eyes were torn from his moving lips to his eyes. "Were you going to ask something?"

"No. Well, yes. But no. No", she thought over what she was saying. "What I mean is that I was going to, but I stopped. And I think that my brain is no longer working, so I'm going to hit the bed".

"Okay, good night", he called to Hermione. "Sweet dreams", he barely whispered, to her now closed door, and he shut his book and left the common rooms, in suit.

The next morning Draco woke up, for the first time with a good night's rest. Ever since his father was put in Azkaban, his mother had turned into a ghost, who wailed loudly at night. He knew how much it tortured his mother to think of her husband being drained by the Dementors. Even though he'd never been a good husband, or father, they both missed him a lot. He walked out to the common rooms, towards the small kitchenette. He sat down on a high stool, and lay his head on the cold marble counter. He worried about his mother and about his father. Though only slightly, for the latter. He was the only thing that kept his mother together, so he wondered how she was doing now. She had insisted that he go back to Hogwarts, even though he tried to convince her that he'd rather stay with her. _She's always seen through my lies_, he thought. Just then he heard Hermione skipping over to him, humming a tune, with a large mug of coffee in her hand.

"I brewed some coffee, early this morning, would you like some too?" She asked, passing the kettle over the counter, towards him. That's when she saw the sullen look on his face. "Draco? Did you have a bad night?"

"No", he sat up straight. "I slept great. But the second I woke up, I started to worry about my mother", he confessed. He didn't hide anything from Hermione, ever since they'd become friends yesterday. He knew he could trust her. He felt her warm hand on his. He was partially amazed that she didn't take it away, considering that his hands were freezing cold.

"Your hands are freezing", Hermione was worried. She walked over and took both his hands, in hers, and began to warm them up.

"It just happens sometimes", once she had warmed his hands he gave a small, "Thanks", and quietly walked to his room. Hermione understood that he just needed some time alone and she decided to check up on him later. For now, she had to get something to eat because she could feel her stomach grumbling lightly. She quickly headed down to the Great Hall.

"Bloody hell, Harry! Look the latest broom is out!" Hermione caught on too Ron's voice as she entered the Hall.

"The Sepere-Aurum, right?" Seamus added into the conversation.

"Wow, the golden serpent?" Dean commented. He'd been so busy during the war, that he'd come for one semester to finish off his studies. Hermione just walked up to Harry and peered over his shoulder to look at what he was reading. She quickly scanned the article, it was about the newest broom.

"According to the Daily Prophet, it's actually the Golden Dragon", she said, suprising everyone. She'd never been interested in Quidditch. "Which actually makes sense, since dragons are often connected to serpents. The latin name for dragon is drakon, which means serpent", she shared, by putting her knowledge of the Latin script with what the Daily Prophet had stated. Everyone looked at her for a moment, she figured out that she would be correct like she always was. She ignored all the guys, who were staring at her, and walked over to Ron, who happily put his arm around her waist.

"Tell me, 'Mione, since when did you get interested in brooms, or in fact, anything to do with Quidditch?" Ron asked.

"Well, actually, ever since Draco started explaining Quidditch to me, and told me more about it, I found it quite interesting. It has an amazing history, you know?" Everyone looked at her again, as if she had gone crazy.

"Hey!" Ron snapped at everyone, who thought his girlfriend was a loon for calling 'Malfoy' by his actual name. And thought that it was even loon-ier that she had a proper conversation with him. "Hermione has decided to give Draco a second chance, being the big person she is. Draco told her that he's different, and he wants to show everyone that he isn't a git. So be easy on him and Hermione". Hermione was so happy that Ron stood up for her like that. And he even stood up for Draco, in a way. She appreciatively gave him a peck on the cheek, and continued with her breakfast, talking to the boys between bites.

"So the Sepere-Aurum, goes over 500 km/hour?" Dean asked. Hermione nodded.

"That's what they say. Apparently, it can go much faster. They say that 500 is just its average speed. Depending on the rider, and how much he urges it to go faster, it'll go that much faster", Hermione added to her nod. "But you need strong riders to make it go upto 1,000 km/hour, because they need to be strong enough to push it that far. And we aren't talking about strength, as in physical, but also mental because-", Hermione was cut off.

"Sepere-Aurum, has a very storng connection to its rider's mind, allowing the rider to fly easily, by just thinking", Hermione looked up to see Draco. His words weren't bitter, anymore, as it used to be around all Gryffindors. He was being polite, as if he was having a conversation with his friends.

"Draco", Hermione smiled. "Wanna sit next to me?" She patted a spot next to her. And he sat down. She leaned over to him and whispered in his ear, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just needed to stop worrying", he whispered back.

"You asked Minnie to check on her didn't you?" Hermione knew that he'd sent asked his mother's house elf, whether his nother was okay or not. He just laughed and nodded.

"Of course I did!" He knew Hermione would have guessed. Within a day of knowing each other, they already understood eachother perfectly. Hermione pulled out a piece of folded parchment from her robe's pocket, and slipped it into Draco's hand. He gave her a questioning look.

"It's a letter, from your mother", she told him. "I knew you'd be worried about her, so I owled her yesterday night, to tell her you were fine, and asking whether she was okay. I just thought you might want to read her response". Draco looked down at the piece of paper, it was obviously from his mother, it had a green border, and the Malfoy emblem on it. He decided to read it later, as her looked up at Hermione. He gave her a small hug, and whispered a 'thanks' into her soft curly hair.

Everyone else had been staring at the whispering two, through their whole interaction. They had no idea what they were saying, since they were whispering so quietly and so privately. Anyone who didn't know that Hermione was going out with Ron, would've thought that she and Draco were a couple. And the hug would have confirmed it. Once they pulled apart from the hug, they turned back to everyone else, who were now looking at Ron. Ron, obviously was jealous, and a bit worried that Draco might take his girlfriend away from him._ No Ron!_ He mentally slapped himself._ You have to trust Hermione, like she told you to. She'd never hurt you like that. And she DOES hug her friends. She hugs Harry_, he thought._ Stop thinking that there's something going on between the Hermione and Malfoy! I mean, Draco._ He corrected his thoughts, while remembering that he was supposed to be nice to Draco from now on. Of course, everyone else thought otherwise. Though they all knew that Hermione would never cheat on Ron, they never knew what 'Malfoy' would do. Well, they had a few ideas, which weren't going to help Ron one bit.

"Hello", Draco caused them to break their stares, "I know that you all have bad opinions when it comes to me, but I really am a different person now. I don't want to be that git, I used to be. I'm really sorry, for all those times I used to torment you. I used to be a horrible prick, but I really hope that you'll all forgive me and give me a second chance. And if you do, you'll see that I am a good person and I can be a good friend too". The whole table was staring at him in awe.

"Well, you're right", Harry said. "You used to be a git before", He paused for a moment, "But even a git deserves a second chance, please don't screw it up".

"I won't", Draco replied. And soon he found that all of Gryffindor had forgiven him. _Wow, Gryffindors are better than I thought they were_, Draco thought. _They always believe the best in people_, he realized when he looked at Hermione. He knew that most of those who'd forgiven him, had just done it because they were sick of holding grudges. The only person who he knew had actually forgiven him, with all their heart, was Hermione.

Hermione felt his gaze heavy on her, she knew what he was thinking, and she knew he was right. "Don't worry, you just need to give them some time, eventually they will truely forgive you. Harry's probably willing to try and be your friend already, but the others will take some time", she reassured him with her whispers. No one bothered asking what they were talking about, they just continued with their conversation about brooms. Since Hermione kept talking about them too, Seamus decided to ask what everyone was wondering.

"Malfoy", his voice wasn't rude, "if you don't mind me asking. How on Merlin's Earth did you get our Hermione interested in Quidditch?" Draco wondered the same thing and had no answer. With a shrug of his shoulders the conversation continued.

_Maybe they'll always call me Malfoy, not that I really mind_, he thought. Honestly, Draco didn't care that much about the others. He was just glad that Hermione had forgiven him. His ear still tickled from her whispers, he looked at her and smiled. _I don't know why, but I feel like, as long as Hermione is at my side, everything will be fine. I'm glad I do have her by my side_, he thought.

"What are you smiling at?" Hermione asked, she'd noticed that everytime she turned around to look at him, he was smiling at her.

"Come with me", he took her hand and led her out of the Great Hall. She didn't really care, she was already finished with her breakfast. No one really noticed, they just shrugged it off, since they were now friends. But Ron watched them disappear behind the now closing, more worried than ever.

"Draco, what-?" Before Hermione could finish her question, Draco pulled her into a hug. One arm around her waist the other on the back of her head, pressing her head into her chest. Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist and he head was now comfortably snuggled against his hard chest. "You know you can hug me in public, you've done it before", she whispered against his shirt, a bit confused with his actions.

"Yeah, I know. But this is different", with that Draco unwrapped Hermione from his embrace and walked away. Leaving Hermione more than confused.


End file.
